Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Life Drawing at Tidnish Bridge Art Gallery

I was out birding much of the day yesterday (despite on and off heavy rains!) and no quick paintings at home, but I knew in the evening I'd be going to the art gallery in Tidnish Bridge, Nova Scotia. By early evening the rains had stopped. The gallery hosts life drawing classes every Monday evening from 7-9 PM and the fee is reasonable - the model's fee ($40) divided by the number of participants. That worked out to a $7 fee last night which was great!

I felt rusty of course as I had not done any life drawing since I was up here last summer at Tidnish Bridge, and the human figure is so unforgiving. However it's always fun and good practice. Lots of quick (30 second, 2 minute, 5 minute, 10 minute) poses, mostly gestural for the shorter ones, then for the last hour two 25-minute poses. Those are the two here. I didn't bring any pastels with me, but did have some colored pencils and got to add a touch of color. It was fun, and I hope to attend next week also.

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Debbie has loved nature and drawing since early childhood, and spent a lot of time drawing and coloring - mostly animals, and visiting art museums, encouraged by an artistic and nature-loving mother. At age 11 she won an art scholarship of a year’s free lessons at the Montclair Art Museum.

But Debbie veered away from art in her teen years. Her interests lay in more classical drawing, and more representational interpretations, all of which were totally out of vogue, and totally untaught, in those teen years. In her 20s she turned to quilting, and spent many years making quilts, primarily her own original designs.

But she still missed drawing, painting, and the fine arts, and in 2005 began to pursue this passion again. She discovered pastels and finally found an art medium she could love.

From 2005-2011 she continued to take lessons with Master Pastelists – first Alex Piccarillo at the Montclair Art Museum (Life drawing, figurative art) and later with Christina Debarry (still lifes and landscapes) at her home studio. Debbie owes a huge debt of gratitude to both Alex and Christina, to their fine teaching skills and warm personalities.